Facebook for SIM uses SMS; no data plan required

Hundreds of millions of handset owners worldwide without data plans have a new way to access Facebook while mobile, thanks to Gemalto. The Amsterdam-based company manufacturers SIM cards for GSM phones and has a new card that leverages SMS to provide Facebook access. Facebook for SIM is launching first through Personal Argentina, allowing that carrier’s 17.4 million customers to use Facebook on the go, regardless of their handset make or model.

Although the unique service doesn’t require a costly data plan, there is a fee involved. A free trial is offered, but once it expires, customers are charged a subscription — $1 for a day, $3 for a week, $9 for a month — for unlimited access to Facebook for SIM. This provides an additional revenue opportunity for both the carrier and Gemalto, while allowing customers to get more usage from their basic handsets.

When you realize that most of world still uses a basic phone — without a data plan, but with SMS capability — it’s easy to see Gemalto’s Facebook for SIM has huge potential for a few years yet, even as Facebook itself tries to target the same feature phone audience.